Flacco, Ravens carve up Bengals

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CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- The maturation of Joe Flacco and a
dominant defense continues to pay dividends for the Baltimore
Ravens.

Flacco threw a pair of touchdown passes and the defense turned
in a dominant performance to lead the surging Ravens to a 34-3
rout of the hapless Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Mark Clayton caught a 70-yard scoring pass from Flacco and threw
a 32-yard touchdown pass to fellow wideout Derrick Mason in the
third quarter to help Baltimore pull away and turn it into a
laugher.

The Ravens limited Cincinnati to just six first downs and 155
total yards.

"It was a totally dominating performance by the defense,"
Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said. "They took some things
away offensively but we found ways. I'm proud of our football
team on a very methodical win."

Since a three-game losing streak against the iron of the AFC -
Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Indianapolis - the Ravens have reeled
off six victories in seven games.

Flacco, who finished 19-of-29 for 280 yards, has 11 touchdown
passes and two interceptions in the last seven contests, keeping
Baltimore (8-4) one-half game behind Pittsburgh for the AFC
North lead.

Clayton had five receptions for 164 yards and Mason added six
catches for 91 yards as the Ravens completed a season sweep of
the woeful Bengals (1-10-1).

"Today we weren't very good," Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis
said. "When you get your head kicked in like we did, I'm not
going to be happy about anything. Our football team won't have
to go through another season like this, nor will our fans.
Believe me."

The Bengals were completely manhandled by Baltimore's defense,
punting on 11 of their first 12 possessions, going three-and-out
eight times.

"Once you get in a groove, you realize what their offense is
trying to do," Ravens linebacker Bart Scott said. "Our coaches
had us prepared for their tendencies."

After settling for a pair of short field goals by Matt Stover,
Flacco finally got the Ravens into the end zone with 4:48 left
in the first half, tossing a 4-yard pass to tight end Todd Heap.
The touchdown was set up by Clayton's 33-yard reception.

The Ravens broke the game open with two touchdowns in a span of
2:27 of the third quarter.

Clayton, on a reverse, found a wide-open Mason down the right
sideline to extend the lead to 20-3. Moments later, Flacco hit
Clayton all alone down the right sideline for a 27-3 cushion
with 5:53 left in the third quarter. Cornerback Leon Hall was
victimized on both plays.

"We didn't practice it much. But I have done it a couple of
times," Clayton said of his scoring strike. "It doesn't matter
if I catch it of throw it. Just so it puts points on the board."

Ryan Fitzpatrick was shackled by the Ravens, completing 12-of-31
passes for 124 yards.

"It's no secret that we came into this game struggling on
offense. It compounds it when playing a defense like this,"
Fitzpatrick said.

Jordan Palmer finished the game for Cincinnati at quarterback.
He threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by
Jim Leonhard.

Baltimore offensive tackle Willie Anderson, who was cut by
Cincinnati after training camp in August, returned to Cincinnati
for the first time since changing uniforms.

"It was kind of funny. It took me 13 years to get behind a
podium. I always wondered where the visiting locker room was.
Winning made it fun," Anderson said.